Challies posted a lengthy quote from a new book by Dave Harvey. The book is called When Sinners Say “I Do”. It’s another book about marriage. The blog-buzz surrounding this book is overwhelmingly positive. Anyway, go read the excerpt…it’s about Jane Austen’s books and the movie adaptations. Honestly, the quote is about the differences between men and women when it comes to movie selections, but that’s not really what I wanted to write about for this post. I have a beef with the most recent movie called Pride and Prejudice.

One commenter mentioned that he had seen the most recent movie adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and was left wondering why all the fuss is over Mr. Darcy. If you watch Pride and Prejudice and still wonder at the end what the big fuss is over Mr. Darcy, then you know you have not seen a decent adaptation of Austen’s novel!

Recently, Karl and I watched the 2005 release and we were both disappointed and underwhelmed by the whole thing. Our expectations were not too high anyway because the new version is only two hours long, and knowing the story like we do, we knew that a lot of the storytelling would have to be sacrificed.

And that last phrase just might be the understatement of the week. So much of the story was chopped, condensed, and/or combined that it was almost unrecognizable as Pride and Prejudice. For example, at the end of this latest version, when Lizzie has to convince Mr. Bennet that she loves Mr. Darcy, she has to explain their “pride and prejudice.” Had the filmmakers been more faithful to the perfect dialog written by Austen, the explanation at the end would not have been necessary. As it is, everything happens in such a rush there’s no time for good storytelling (just quick explanations) and the audience isn’t given time to care about the characters.

I didn’t appreciate the new film’s lack of appreciation for the customs of the time period, either. Women went about without their bonnets. Lizzie and Mr. Darcy met at dawn in their pajamas. Gasp! The final scene has Lizzie sitting on a table in nothing but a shirt of Mr. Darcy’s. Highly irregular for the time, if you ask me.

That scene with Lizzie and Mr. Darcy meeting in a field in their jammies to confess their love to one another was just unnecessary. The filmmakers were trying too hard to make the movie more romantic (yet without dialog) and earthy, but it wasn’t fulfilling to me as an audience member and Austen reader.

The retelling of Lizzie’s trip to Pemberly with the surprise meeting of Mr. Darcy was quite poor. It lacked the suspense and embarrassment and drama of the book and the 1995 A&E version of the film. The other thing that bothered me about this film’s account of Lizzie’s visit to Pemberly is the way in which the filmmakers chose to convey Lizzie’s change of heart toward Mr. Darcy. In the book, you may recall that the attendant continuously praises Mr. Darcy’s character and goodness as they are looking at photographs/portraits of him, his father, and Mr. Wickham. In the 2005 film version, the attendant, portrayed more like a young maid, comments about Mr. Darcy’s handsome features as they are walking through a room full of busts and sculptures.

There are a few things I liked about the 2005 version, believe it or not. I enjoyed Donald Sutherland as Mr. Bennet. Judi Dench as Lady Catherine de Bourg was perfect. I even liked the woman cast to play Jane Bennet, Rosamund Pike. But Matthew Macfadyan as Darcy and K.K. as Lizzie were both wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

I could go on, but I want to hear what you ladies (or men, if there are any besides my hubby) have to say about all things P&P, whether it be about the book, the 1995 A&E adaptation, or the 2005 Kiera Knightley show.